Baseball Knocks 16 Hits in Win

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The West Virginia University baseball team exploded for nine runs on 16 hits and defeated Wake Forest by a score of 9-2 on Saturday at the Wake Forest Baseball Park.

The win was the second of the day for the Mountaineers (3-3), which defeated Youngstown State 7-3 earlier in the afternoon.

“We knew going into it that it was going to be a long day and that it was going to stretch our pitching staff,” coach Randy Mazey says. “Harrison Musgrave throwing eight innings was huge for us and going into tomorrow we still have some of our best guys fresh.”

Left-hander Harrison Musgrave (1-0) provided a dominant pitching performance in his second start since coming off Tommy John surgery. Musgrave went 8.0 innings, allowing just two runs on five hits with four strikeouts and no walks.

At the plate, left fielder Jacob Rice went 4-for-5 with a run and an RBI, while right fielder Brady Wilson knocked three hits with two runs and two RBIs. In total, six different Mountaineers recorded multi-hit games.

“We grinded it out with two strikes and it was an unbelievable offense approach today with two strikes,” Mazey says. “Coach (Steven) Trout did a great job with the hitters and we didn’t give up with two strikes. We kept battling and got a lot of hits with two strikes and two outs to keep some innings alive. It was a total team effort.”

The scoring onslaught began in the first inning on a sacrifice fly to center field by designated hitter Matt Frazer and an RBI double by first baseman Ryan McBroom to put WVU ahead 2-0.

The Mountaineers extended the lead to 4-1 in the next two frames with a solo home run from Wilson in the second inning, his first of the season, and a bases loaded walk drawn by third baseman Ryan Tuntland in the third inning.

WVU added two runs in the sixth inning, and then added three in the seventh inning to close out the scoring at 9-2. The sixth inning included an RBI ground out by second baseman Billy Fleming and an RBI single to center field by Rice. In the seventh inning, Wilson hit an RBI double to drive in McBroom, followed by an RBI ground out from shortstop Taylor Munden and a successful squeeze bunt by center fielder Bobby Boyd.

The loss was charged to Wake Forest starter Jack Fischer, who allowed four earned runs on 10 hits in 6.0 innings. Jack Carey led the Demon Deacons with two hits, while Joey Rodriguez had a solo home run in the sixth inning.

WVU closes out the weekend tomorrow against Wake Forest at 4 p.m. Links to live statistics and a video stream are available via WVUsports.com.